


Blinded By Darkness

by Advent777



Category: Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27002698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Advent777/pseuds/Advent777
Summary: After Light disappears, Serah begins to experience abnormal events that she cannot fathom. Through an unexpected encounter with a hooded figure, she meets a young keyblade wielder named Sora, who claims that her sister is still alive but was consumed by darkness. Desperate to bring her back, Serah embarks on a journey with the young keyblader to find her lost sister and learns some things not only about herself, but others as well. Sora&Serah
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

The night was a silent one, Besides the soothing sound of the waves crashing on and off shore. And the evening breeze gently blowing through the air, rustling the island trees and other parts of nature's surroundings. The moon's light shined down on the beach sands and the ocean, illuminating the darkness with it's bright glow.

Laying on the sands just inches away from the water, was a girl. Arms crossed behind her head and eyes staring up at the twinkling stars in the sky.

'3,999, 4,000! 4,000 stars tonight!' She thought to herself and giggled softly.

Every night for the past three years she would lay on the beach and count the stars. It was a fun way to pass time since every night the number would be different and it was also a way for her to forget the things that had occurred up until this point. The main one, being the strange disappearance of her sister. her smile faded.

The day her sister was sucked up into a black void was the day everything changed. Whenever she would mention her sister's name or even desceibe what she looked like, people would just give her an empty look and tell her to stop making up stories. Even her friends said she was talking nonsense, telling her she never had a sister and all her crazy talk had to be some side effect from being in crystal stasis for so long.

Before all this there was a crisis back on Cocoon with Gran Pulse dealing with l'cie. She had gotten mixed up in the Chaos and winded up being branded by a Pulse Fal'cie. by the time her sister and her fiancée reached her it was too late and she was turned to crystal. Her sister and her fiancée, along with some other friends fought and defeated the threat of Cocoon which is why the planet is sitting at the center of Pulse in a crystalized state. In the end Serah was released from her crystal state and reunited with her sister and friends. It was strange how someone could forget something like that so quickly.

She told that story over a hundred times to her fiancée but he denied it all, saying he and a few others saved her and there was no one else.

As time went on everyone carried on with their lives, oblivious to the fact that someone important was missing, something only she knew apparently because everyone else around thought she was crazy or had completely lost it.

"I'll see you again." She stood up and picked up a glass bottle from the sandy surface that she had sitting by her side. The bottle was sealed shut with a cork and inside was a rolled up sheet of paper. She didn't know why but for some reason she felt that her sister was still out there somewhere. Somewhere far away, and casting this bottle out into the ocean, maybe there was a chance that it would reach her. The idea was silly and yes she thought twice about doing it but, it didn't hurt to try. "Maybe not now, but one day," She started then tossed the bottle as far as she could out into the water. The tides washed over the glass object and pushed it further and further out to sea until she could no longer see it. "I know, I'll see you again." She finished softly.

"And you will."

A deep voice boomed loudly over the beach. The girl quickly jumped from her spot in the sand and cautiously looked around. The voice sounded loud and close but there was no one in sight. Then, where did the voice come from?

"Wh-who's there?"

She felt a little foolish talking to the air and would prefer seeing the one responsible in person. But still no one stepped forward. The skies quickly began to grow dark than they already were, blocking out the moon and the star lit sky completely leaving nothing but imminent fear looming in the pit of the now horror-struck girl's stomach.

"The darkness is coming for you..."

'Darkness..?'

"Wh-what are you.." Her voice trailed off as her eyes bore witness to small shadow like creatures coming up out of the ground. The creatures crawled around the beach ground while others staggered in her direction.

"But don't be afraid, for the darkness shall lead you, if you allow it."

A dark pool of ooze formed around the girl's feet. If not instantly, she freaked out and tried her best to escape the pool of malevolence but she was sinking quickly. She screamed out for help but her cries went unheard and only faded into the night. The scenery around her became twisted and distorted. Wavering, and being swallowed up by the darkness.

"Accept it into your heart. Give into it...and you can see her again."

Her attention was grabbed immediately. Her struggles came to a stop and she, along with the shadowy creatures sunk all the way down into the pool of malevolence.

"I-I can.."

"Yes.." The voice said in a very persuading tone that made the girl feel that he was in fact being very truthful. "Just take my hand, and I shall lead you to her."

It sounded all too simple. In her mind she wanted to refuse, but in her heart, she just wanted to be with her sister again. Her arm extended out to the nothingness, reaching for the hand that the voice told her to grab. Slowly, bands of dark crept up her arm and soon around her legs and midsection. All that was left untouched was her head, which was beginning to feel a little odd. Her body felt a little strange and her veins felt like they were burning and being pierced with daggers. The pain became so intense; she started shifting in and out of consciousness. With all the darkness around her she couldn't tell if she had blacked out or not.

She soon saw a bright flash of light that illuminated the dark area surrounding her form. The bands of darkness suppressing her body dissipated as soon as the light hit them.

'Hey! I'm sure you're stronger than that!.' A cheerful male voice spoke out to the troubled girl.

"Wh-what...what do you mean..?" She asked as she brought her arms up over her eyes to shield out the blinding light. With one eye squinted, she could see a silhouette of a figure with spiky hair standing with a long object over his right shoulder. He was no one she ever seen before.

'It's a trap.' He started. 'You give in to him now, and it’s over. You can't be that gullible can you?'

"But he said I would be able to-" She sighed. "I-I guess I'm just desperate, you have no idea, what I'm going through, I can't take this..."

'I can imagine. I lost someone once as well. Two people actually. I was tempted by the darkness many times but I didn't give in. Doing so will only stir up chaos within yourself. I stuck with the path to the light. Yes, it was a long path with many obstacles barring my way but in the end, with the help of new-found friends, I made it through and found those that I lost. I promise the same for you...Serah.'

"How do you...how do you know my name? More importantly, how do I know I can trust you….."

'Hmm...' The figure thought for a moment then quickly remembered something important. He reached down in his pocket and pulled out a black orb the size of a golf ball. He tossed the obsidian object to the girl who caught it in her hands with just a bit of difficulty. She squinted her eyes and held the small object up to the light between her thumb and index finger. "What's this?" She asked while closely observing the tiny orb.

'A gift..' He paused. 'It's from Light, she said it will help you on the long-'

"You know my sister!?"She exclaimed.

"Where is she!?"

"What did she say!?"

"What was that black hole she was sucked up into!?"

"Is she alright!?"

Question after question spilled from the girl's lips but the male didn't have an answer for either one. Only thing he was able to tell her is Light was lost and that finding her would be a difficult task. Serah then slipped back into a state of sadness, just when she thought of her sister's disappearance was solved, it became a clouded mystery again. She started to think it would be an eternity before she was reunited with her, and that was too long. "Guess that's it huh..." She said dourly.

'Not at all.' He responded as he extended an arm out to the girl. 'I'll help you. Light is out there. That I'm sure of. We'll find her together and bring her back, I promise. What do you say, will you go with me?'

It was easier said than done, she knew this little search was not going to be a simple one and as hard as it was for her to actually believe what this guy was saying, his word was all she had to go by for the time being. She nodded her head and reached for his extended hand. "I'll go, but that doesn't mean I trust you yet."

He laughed. 'Understandable...'

"Now I have two questions." She stated as the two of them drifted closer and closer to the light. "First, what's with all this dark and light business..? Secondly, what's your name? You know mine but I don't know yours.."

'The dark and light thing, I'll explain to you soon enough.'

'As for my name, it's Sora.'

:::

The girl's body jerked forward as she sat up to catch her breath. Her heart was racing so fast and beating so loud the sound resonated in her ears. Her bangs were stuck to her forehead from sweating and her body was trembling. "Another one?" She mumbles lightly. By now she thought she'd be used to these dreams since they had been going on for the past three months, but no. something about the dreams were very, vague. And every time she had one, it became more and more...bizarre.

"Evening sleepyhead." Came a vibrant male voice from the direction of the window.

'Evening..'

She thought, immediately looking outside the window. She really didn't even remember falling asleep. The sky was dark with no signs of the moon or any stars, just a naked black sky hovering above the small town. The girl shuddered. Lately, the night was nothing she looked forward to. She wished that there was a way for the day hours to last forever but this was Gran Pulse. Unlike Cocoon, there was no special technology capable of doing such.

Serah slid from her bed but when she did, something slipped from the sheets, clanked against the wooden floor and rolled under the bed. Curious as to what it was, the girl dropped to her knees and peered under the bed. The first few glances she saw nothing, but at the corner of her eye she saw something glistening. Her hand reached out and grabbed the object. "What the?"

She couldn't believe what she was seeing, that orb. That same orb that the boy had gave her in her dream, she was holding it in her hand. But it was a dream, how could it be here?

"Hey, you okay, what you got there?" She heard Snow again. But ignored him. She shoved the marble into her pocket and walked directly pass the male and to the kitchen area with no response. So was it really a dream or was she in some other world? And what about this Sora guy who claimed to know her sister. Was he real? Is any of what she's experiencing real?

"Uhm...Serah?"

Reality washed over her again at the sound of the male's voice. She wanted to share her dream with him, if it was even safe to call it that but she knew how he would react. 

The girl sat up on a stool and dropped her head on the counter top. There was a time when Snow used to try and do anything he could for Serah. Even if it meant giving his own life to keep her happy, he would have. But ever since the disappearance of her sister and the unexplainable things that were happening to her, the two's relationship had been everything but smooth sailing. 

Snow began spending more time with N.O.R.A. and its new members, pushing her further and further out of the picture. She even noticed the close relationship that him and Lebreau was beginning to develop. The two were spending a great deal of time together mainly in the evening hours. When she would approach him about it he'd always tell her it was N.O.R.A. stuff. But she was smart enough to know differently though, and it hurt her deeply to know that her supposed to be fiancé was cheating on her with her supposed to be best friend but, other things occupied her mind and she could really care less.

"'Nother bad dream?"

She snapped from her reverie and seen the male was standing behind her wearing that obnoxious grin on his face.

"You don't care." She grumbled, turning in the stool to face the male but didn't make eye contact with him. Honestly, she wished he would just go away. His presence alone was enough to annoy her. "Just like everyone else in town you've shunned me.." Her sapphires softened and she turned her back to him once again. Her eyes started to sting from the tears she was trying so desperately to hide from him. "Just leave me alone, I don't need you.."

"Serah I'm sorry it's just the things you're telling is not believable. I thought after three years you'd let this go."

"If I'm going on with something for that long, shouldn't you take a hint..? Why would I make this up Snow?"

"I don't know, maybe you're delusional.."

The girl's fist curled against the counter top as her head quickly snapped around in the direction the male was standing, eyes narrowed giving the blond man a hateful glare.

Snow felt like a sitting duck right now. He tried to think of something to correct what he said but his mind was suddenly blank.

"What did you just-"

"Hey there Snow, Oh, and Serah too. Good to see you're finally awake!"

The tension in the room was soon lifted when the tanned brunette girl walked in the room. Snow sighed in relief and flicked away a bead of sweat from his eyebrow.

'Dodged that bullet.' He thought

"Hey Lebreau, what's going on?" He asked, an attempt to clear the air of him and Serah's near fallout.

"Nothing," She quickly heated up some Saké and poured some for them in two ochoko cups. "I'm about to cook up some dinner for everyone, you two sticking around?" She looked at him, then Serah who was swirling her Saké around in the ochoko glass.

"No." The pink haired girl objected and stood from the bar stool. "I need to go for a walk so you love birds can have the kitchen.."

"Now, Serah. You know Snow and I are just...friends. I know where Snow's heart is, and it's not with me." Lebreau tried to justify to the girl, but her guilty expression was enough to give her away.

"Just how stupid do you think I am?" She asked bitterly. "I've seen the two of you I just.." The girl trailed off. She couldn't figure out whether it was her emotions holding her back from saying what she truly felt or if she really had nothing else to say. "I'm out of here.."

"This late in the night Serah?" Snow shouted before the girl had the chance to take a step forward. "It's dangerous out there, and the monsters are really out at this hour." He said, worried for the girl's safety.

"Stop acting like you care. I'm sure you'd be relieved if something happened to me.."

"Serah how could you say-"

"Shut up!" She shouted more out of frustration than anger at the two. Her eyes lowered to the floor. "I lost everything. I thought that you would be the last person I could turn to but I'm losing you too, and my friends. I've become a nobody amongst everyone. I'm here but no one really acknowledges my existence. Not even you." The girl raised her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying over this was a useless act and all it would cause is for them to pity her. The last thing she wanted.

"Serah I-"

"Save it, I don't care to hear what you have to say..."

She said harshly as she neared the door. Maybe it was best for her and everyone in this town if she just faded away. In a strange way, she already felt like she was. If she did it's not like anyone notice, let alone miss her.

"Oh, and Snow.." She stopped and pulled something from around her neck. Sapphires glanced down at the silver pendant in her hand. The night Snow gave her this gift came back go her mind. It was the night he asked her to marry him. She truly thought the two of them would be together for the rest of their lives but, now she sees just how foolish she was to think something like that was even possible. "You can have this!" The girl threw the necklace across the floor and ran out of the village.

:::

The girl sat at the edge of a cliff on the outskirts of the small town. The cool night air always calmed her from the stress that would build up in a single day. It put her at ease. She found herself coming to this spot often when she wanted to get away from the people around her and just be alone. Most of the time, it would be to think. The girl reached down in her pocket and pulled out that orb she had found earlier. Just like in her dream, she held the marble between her thumb and index finger.

'It's a gift from Light, she said it would help you on your long-"

Help her on her long what? Now she wished she'd let the boy finish his sentence before she interrupted. But what kind of gift was a marble? She shrugged. She'd probably find out sometime soon but for now, all that mattered is that it was from her sister. This here was proof that she was alive.

"Hope you keep your promise." She stood, a small empty smile shaped her lips. "Sora..." He promised he'd help her find Light but, was he real? What if he was just a figment of her imagination–something that came out of her because she was in a state of trouble. She crossed her fingers and hoped she was wrong.

The girl turned to head back towards town, on the way there, Snow came back to mind. Her stomach twisted. Maybe her overreaction was a little unnecessary; she should probably apologize to both him and Lebreau for jumping to such a ridiculous conclusion without asking questions first. Yes, that's what she would do. They couldn't be too mad at her.

The girl was only about a mile away from the small town when she bumped into a figure and fell back. Serah looked up to see a person dressed in a long dark leather coat standing over her. She could not see their face but it was easy to see that it was a woman from how the figure was shaped. The hooded woman took several steps forward, which ultimately caused Serah to scoot back, putting her closer to the edge of the cliff she was on.

"So you're the one huh? The one the Organization wants." The woman said. 

"Serah.."


	2. Chapter 2

Serah scratched her head as a look of perplexity was visible as her current expression. Organization? Serah blinked several times mostly out of confusion. Who was this woman and what was she going on about? "Uhm...what are you talking about and how do you know my name. Who are you?"

The woman disappeared from sight, further startling the girl. Serah turned around to find the woman now on a high cliff. "It is, such a fragile thing, what you have. But also can be very strong depending upon the person….and your's is just that; strong.." She vanished again and appeared in front of the girl. "Without your's, our source will remain incomplete, no matter how many we continue to collect."

Now she was really confused. It was also adding to her frustration. "What…What are you talking about!? I don't have anything! Now you'd better leave or else…"

"I see," The woman said. She out stretched her arm, and from a mixture of darkness and the element of lightning, a blade appeared. A very familiar one, a gunblade.

“Light..?” Serah whispered softly, not wanting to call the woman’s name aloud just to be completely wrong. “Is..is that you?” She walked closer, but slowly. She felt her heart fall to her feet. If it was her she had so many questions. “It is you isn’t it?” Her voice started to crack, and she started cry. “Where’ve you been!?”

There was no response.

“Everyone thinks you’re dead!” She shouted and curled both her hands into fist. “How could you just disappear for three years, and leave me alone like that? Especially after all that’s happened. You had me worried sick.”

There still was no answer. 

“Would you please say something!?”

The woman stepped back, and pulled the hood from her head. “I don’t know this Light person you’re referring to, but “I’m Acrliex." The woman stated. 

“Wh-what?” Her appearance shocked Serah. This was definitely her sister, well she looked like her that is, except she had sliver hair and her eyes were a deeper blue. 

"Very deep set of words you had there, almost touched my, oh wait never mind." She smirked. "Anyway, I hope you don't have anyone that will miss you dear girl, because this is where your life comes to an end!" The woman shouted as she leapt from the cliff and darted for the girl while pulling her weapon back for attack.

Serah could do nothing to protect herself so she did the next best thing and shielded herself while calling out for help. She knew it was the weakest thing she could do but nothing else came to her mind. Naturally no one showed up but when she came from her cowardly position, everything around her was in a frozen state. Her attacker, who was just seconds away from slicing her to pieces, was frozen in front of her. It was as if time itself had completely halted.

"What's.." The marble that she had clenched within her right hand was giving off a purple effulgent glow from the center. The orb rose from her hand and dispersed into an oozy black liquid that stretched, expanded and twisted to create some foreign looking object that fell into Serah's hands. The girl's arms were weighed down immediately upon the object falling into her grasp. Right away she placed it down in the grass. Whatever it was it was definitely heavy, too heavy for her to hold that is.

The dark oozy substance cleared from the object and what laid in front of her was some weird looking weapon. A curved notched blade, the hilt of the blade was a smoky red color while, the rest of the blade's body was black. At the base, were teeth that curved in at the top but stuck outward towards the bottom. The keychain at the base of the hilt was a black heart x'ed out in red. "What..what is-"

The blade vanished from sight for a few seconds then appeared within her hand. "What, what the!?" Just then, time went back into motion and Acrliex's sword clashed down against the one Serah possessed. "What, a keyblade?" The woman leapt back then dashed forward again for another attack.

"A what?" Serah asked, trying to maintain her balance. The woman was obviously much stronger than she was. Between the weight of the sword and the weight being pushed against the sword, her legs gave in. Acrliex slashed upward, breaking the girl’s defense, and impaled her sword into her chest.

Serah's eyes bulged and as bizarre as it may have been, there was no pain, however she did feel –No, she didn't feel anything, she couldn't feel. A ball of light emerged from the center of the girl's chest and hovered in front of her. Inside, was a heart. The pink haired girl, along with what the weapon called the keyblade, fell backwards. At this point, everything felt like it was transpiring in slow motion. She reached her arm out to grab for the edge so she could pull herself back up, when pain ripped across her brain hindering her from doing so.

'Wh-what's happening to me!?’ she screamed out, yet her lips did not move.

‘You'll be fine Serah..trust me.’ She heard another voice invading her thoughts.

‘Sora..'

‘Serah, you have to be strong, that's the only way you'll get through this..'

"How, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. I-I'm scared.."

‘There's no need to be scared. Use the keyblade, it'll protect you.’

’What's with this keyblade?’

‘I can't explain that at the moment Serah, just do what I told you and don't let your heart falter..'

:::

"So-ra..."

Serah mumbled as she opened her eyes, she was still free-falling towards the water and that woman was right on her heels. "I-I can't do this..." She shook her head and started to weep. Though Sora told her what to do, she doubted it was the right thing. Since this whole occurrence began she's doubted a number of things, even herself.

She looked down at the weapon in her hand and came to notice it had an ominous dark aura channeling through it. "What's-" The blade yanked her arm forward as if it had a mind of its own. The dark aura around it grew stronger. Tendrils of darkness curled their way down her arm and spread across her body.

'Serah!'

"Ahhgh!" A pain shot across her brain again as the voice echoed in her mind. A foreign feeling crept over her, and it made her stomach churn.

'Serah listen to me, stop putting doubt into your mind, you're weakening your heart!'

Little did he know her heart had already been extracted from her body. The power started to course through her, the energy so great she could feel herself slipping away, disappearing.

"Nygh!" Another pain tore across her head and another voice became present, a much deeper voice. Serah recognized the voice from the dream she previously had.

'Yes, yes give in..allow it to consume you.'

Voice after voice echoed throughout her mind. Both trying to tell her which path was the right to choose, and the headaches she received every time one of them spoke wasn't making her issue any better. She felt like her head was going to explode.

"STOOOOOOOOOP!"

An ebony sphere formed around the girl and engulfed her entire form. Acrliex who was still falling towards the girl, thrusted her sword forward for one last strike but was surprised when her blade struck against something metallic. The dark sphere vanished and there was Serah, though her appearance had dramatically changed. Her hair was silver, her eyes were of a golden tint, the complexion of her skin was much paler, and she now wore a black and red body suit that had the symbol of a heart x'ed out in red at the center of her chest.

The girl rose her foot then kicked Acrliex directly in the torso, sending the woman's form plummeting into the water below. Serah knew that wasn't the end of the woman, it was too easy. How right she was. As she landed into the shallow part of the water, the woman emerged from the deep depths and studied Serah's new appearance. 

"How in the world..." It was a mystery of how the girl was able to maintain this form, when she had no heart. 

Her heart!

"Damn!" Acrliex glanced up at the cliff's edge where the girl’s heart still sat floating in the air. She casted her arm forth and a dark portal appeared. The woman stepped one foot inside, but Serah quickly grabbed her arm and tossed her back a few feet. "Trying to flee?" She twirled her blade between her fingers as she planted her feet against the wet sand. "I don't think so." Serah smirked and beckoned for the woman to attack her.

Feeling a sense of mockery coming from the girl, the woman charged at her again. Serah simply raised her sword to block every attack with little to no effort at all and laughed. "And you called me the weak one? You know, you shouldn't go up against people you can't defeat!" The girl slashed at the woman's weapon ultimately breaking the woman's sword in half.

Riled, the woman casted the spell of Thundaga in means to hit the girl and failed. Serah thrusted the arm containing the keyblade in the air and consumed the electrical spell within the weapon. "Here," She spun the weapon a few times then pointed it at Acrliex. "This is for you!" The spell exploded from the base of the blade with a mixture of darkness and was sent back at Acrliex. 

The bolt struck the woman and her body bounced back twice, the electric current still surged through her body briefly rendering her immobile. "Pathetic.." Serah said drolly. She scuffed and vanished to the cliff where her heart sat, giving off a radiant glow of pureness. 

She started down at it for a bit, then raised her hand above it. Slowly, it darkened it to a violet color, tainting it and disposing it of its pureness.

Acrliex stood to her feet, albeit being in a state of weakness from the girl attacking her. “Dammit.." The woman responded through harbored breath. This was an unexpected result, and continuing to go up against this this girl wouldn’t end well for her. She casted her hand out and a black portal appeared. "The organization isn’t going to be happy about this when I inform them.” 

She looked at Serah. “This isn’t over!” She said though her words went unheard. The woman walked into the portal and it vanished into the air.

Only a few seconds later, did another portal appear and out walked another figure dressed in a coat identical to the one Acrliex had worn. The figure clapped their hands as they made their way towards the girl. 

Startled, Serah stopped before she could fully finish, what she was doing. 

She pointed the keyblade at the figure, a threat to get him to stop but he kept coming until he halted a few feet in front of her. "Well done." The man said in a congratulatory manner.

"And you might be who?" She asked still keeping the blade directed at the hooded male. Just where were these figures coming from?

"So you decided to give in after all.." He said ignoring her question. The male began to circle her, observing her appearance. "Just what we needed, another strong individual added to the organization."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not up for being recruited. Especially not with this…organization you speak of. I'm searching for someone, and I don't have time for the likes of you, or any of those other outcasts dressed in black. So unless you want trouble," Pools of black became present in various areas around Serah and the hooded man. From their wakes came the heartless. "I think we should go our separate ways.”

"Even in this state, your will is strong. Your search is a waste, But you'll never find her for she is lost to those who don't know where to look." He casted out his hand for her to take, a portal opened up behind him. "I know where she is. Come with me Serah.” He said and held his hand out to her. “I can take you to her, she's waiting for you.." He smirked though she didn't see it.

The girl's eyes narrowed and she slowly lowered her blade to the ground. She was more than willing to follow him to where ever her sister was. Be it the deepest depts of the darkness where he came from, she'd go. But a side of her was rejecting her from going anywhere with him. Something about him just rubbed her the wrong way. "You're.." She tightly gripped the blade’s hilt, and pointed it at the figure. “You’re lying!" She lunged at the hooded male with the army of heartless tailing her.

The figure remained still until the girl was only inches away. From nothing appeared a thick black sword that looked as if it was crafted from the wings of some unknown creature. The hooded man swung the sword horizontally and Serah swiftly parried with a quick backflip and dash to the right of the hooded male.

The massive blade clashed with the water, splitting the waters from the great impact and causing it to splash and spray in all directions. The heartless that Serah had summoned were now scattered around the beach, and either recovering from the attack, or fading into dust. 

"You're finished!" Serah yelled as she swung her sword towards the figure's head but missed when he vanished. "What the!?"

The figure appeared above the girl, watching as she frantically looked around to find him. He laughed and made his location known by calling out to her. "Up here foolish girl!" By the time Serah gazed up at the male, he released a blast of energy from the strange red crystal on his hilt. The blast threw Serah back and slammed her into a wall.

"Nygk…" She coughed a bit then slowly pulled herself from the chunks of rocks she was wedged between. Sore and fatigued, the girl stuck the keyblade into the damp sand and leaned against it to support her weight. The figure stood several feet away from her, calm and obviously waiting for her next attack.

"You…" She breathed deeply as she pulled herself into a standing position.

Unable to maintain her balance, She collapsed back to the ground. Her appearance switched back to normal, causing her to feel weaker than she already was. She blinked a few times, and her blurry vision eventually cleared up. 

"Wh-who are you?" She whispered as the cloaked man neared. "Nygk..why-why are y-you doing this..this t-to me?” She rolled over in the sand and bought a hand up over her chest, where she started to develop an unpleasant feeling –a feeling almost equivalent to suffocation and a little bit of pain. A dark aura, the same dark aura that was channeling through her weapon was now flowing around her body. She winced as the pain started growing more and more intense to the point she couldn't breathe. "N-no…not this.."

The hooded man moved from his place and was now rushing her way to attack the defenseless girl. Just then, the keyblade appeared within her hand and before the man could strike, Serah raised the blade to defend herself. It would be pitiful if she allowed herself to be killed off by this guy, or be killed before she was able to find her sister. The man's sword clashed with her own again for what seemed like the millionth time in that evening.

"Wh-what do you want from me!?” She pushed forward, and it forced the unknown man to leap back and into the air. 

When he landed back upon the ground, he bought his sword over his shoulder, and slammed the oversized blade down against the ground, releasing some form of energy from it that traveled across the ground and struck Serah. The aftershock left a long fissure along the sandy surface. The hooded man lifted his sword, and slowly approached the girl's limp figure.

Serah stared lifelessly up at the sky. She’d given it her all at this point, and had no more energy in her to fight. As badly as she wanted to get up and push on, her body was not allowing her to.  
She was ready to accept that this was it for her. Whatever this man wanted to do with her he could. She didn't care anymore. She just wanted this horrible ordeal to be over. The dark Aura that was flowing around her body grew stronger as her thoughts became more and more negative.

'Serah listen to me.'

"Ah-ahgh!" She flinched. Another wave of pain made itself present and swam across her brain when Sora's voice resonated in her mind again. 

Finding this to be a great opportunity, the hooded man picked up Serah's body and carried her over to a portal that he opened up. Serah could hear everything around her but she couldn't move. She could think but not all the thoughts were her own. Her eyes remained half-opened, and continuously switched between gold and sapphire blue. She felt almost paralyzed.

"S-sora..." She spoke out slowly, trying to push the heartless part of her out. "H-help..me.." It was a strain, but she managed to stretch a hand outside the portal of black as it slowly started to swallow her and the hooded man. She felt herself slipping away again, and the other side of her pushing its way back to the front. It was hopeless; her dark side was much stronger than she was. She was fading. Her arm fell limp and her body fell backward, into the depts of the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

She'd expected to feel nothing, but she was wrong. Her body felt warm like someone was embracing her. Maybe she was dead or in some unknown dimension but she didn't care. She felt at ease here. Where ever here was.

"Serah.." A voice called.

The girl didn't respond. She didn't want to.

"Serah, open your eyes.." The voice demanded but it seemed to echo slightly. The girl peeled her eyes open half way. At first sight, everything appeared bleary but when it all cleared, hovering over her was a brunette male with spiked brown hair. Serah still remained unresponsive for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what was going on around her. 

Her eyes lazily trailed back to the male that was holding her up in his arms. He was no one of familiarity to her and wondered who he was and where he had suddenly came from. "Wh-who are…." Her sentence went unfinished when she passed out. The male set her down then gazed in the direction of the hooded man. "You want her? You'll have to go through me!"

The hooded male held his hand over his wounded torso where the brunette male had struck him. It didn't show much but he was able to tell the man was in critical condition by how slow he was walking. With the last bit of strength he had, the hooded man rose his blade up at the sky. Oblivious to what he was doing, the brunette male just stood back and watched while keeping his defenses up.

The red crystal at the hilt of the man's blade glowed a purple-ish color and no more than a few seconds after, a beam shot up at the sky. The brunette male studied the skies and soon noticed a cluster of dark clouds began to form. "This..this is not good.." The cluster grew bigger and bigger until it blotted out the crystal structure at the center of the ocean. It pulsed and flickered as an orange core became visible at the center.

"We will meet again. When we do..it'll be the end for the both of you.." The man then vanished within the portal.

The brunette male ran to Serah's side and attempted to shake her awake but that did not work. In a rush, he grabbed the girl's weapon and scooped her up from the ground when a bright flash of light emitted from the center of her chest.

"Hmmmm!?" He hummed in surprise. The girl's appearance was rapidly changing and the glow was becoming brighter and brighter as her appearance reverted back to its original state. Eventually, the light grew bright enough to the point that the male had to put her down and take a few steps back. Serah's body lay against the ground as a ball of dark energy rose up from her chest and combined with the weapon.

The keyblade's color darkened then the weapon itself dispersed into tiny balls of dark that splattered all over the ground. The burnette male observed from a distance as the inky ooze clustered together and what rose from the ground was one of those shadow heartless, but instead of having usual glowing yellow orbs for eyes, this creature had blue ones.

The male aimed his weapon at the creature, ready to blast it away with the spell of Firaga, but what the creature did next stopped him from doing so. The heartless just shied away behind Serah's unconscious body, and covered its head. 

“Huh?” He tiled his head to the side and raised his eyebrow. “Odd..but-Oh that’s right!” He recalled something that Light had said to him a little while ago about Serah’s keyblade. “A heartless of all things though?” He shook his head while lowering his weapon and it disappeared from sight. The shadow didn't pose as any threat and as bad as he wanted to rid of it, he couldn't.

After a few seconds, the light slowly began to fade away but Serah remained unconscious. The male's eyes went back to that blob in the sky and his worries began to grow. He remembered when a similar event occurred the night he and his friends were torn away from their home. This world was about to cease to exist for a long time. Serah had to live somewhere around here, and that meant others did as well. Everyone will have to evacuate quickly or else they'll…

He shook his head. There was no time to think about what could happen, he had to find a way to prevent innocent people from being swallowed up by that thing. Scooping Serah up from the ground, he rushed around the island looking for civilization so he could warn others of the doom that was coming.

:::

_“Call me Light.."_

_"What?" The girl blinked and tilted her head to the side at her sister's odd request. "Light? but your name is-."_

_“I know.” She stated simply, and Serah just stared at her blankly._

__

__

_“Then...why do you want me to call you Light?"_

_"Because, I want you to know that it doesn't matter where you are, or where you go, there is always light..and that's me..I'll always be with you Serah."_

"Light!"

Serah's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up in bed, regretting it a few seconds later when her head started throbbing. "Gah!" She held her head between her hands and drew her knees to her chin for her head to rest on. 

Taking a look around, she realized she was in her own home again. The one place she really didn't want to be. Snow or one of the others must have found her and bought her back here. She could barely remember anything. Only thing she did remember is that woman Acrliex stabbing her. After that everything went blank. "What happened…what's happening to me..?" She mumbled. 

She wished that everything would just go back to the way it used to be. But the more she wished for that, the worse things became. There was a saying that things were going to get worse before they got better but in this case there was no better. From here things were only going to continue to get worse. She felt it.

Her attention was drawn to the foot of her bed when a shadow creature hopped up and scurried beside her. Right away, Serah made a high pitched scream loud enough to shatter windows. The brown haired male was just on his way to check on her when she knocked him on the floor to escape the dark creature that was chasing her! "Kill it! kill it! kill it!" She squealed.

The male shook his head after the surprised clash then stood to his feet. His eyes tried to keep up with the girl who was running around the room at what seemed to be lightning speed; ultimately, he became dizzy and gave up. 

"Woah, relax Serah, it's not going to hurt you." He laughed then knelt down to the dark creature that leapt up on his head. 

Serah stopped her frantic running around and finally took a seat at the counter. She didn't notice it earlier but she was tired and her head ache came back in an instant. The male sat the creature down on the counter and it approached the girl with caution. Serah flinched away, scaring the shadow and it quickly ducked back behind the male. "I wasn't too fond of it when I first saw it myself but, it’s harmless. So how are you feeling Serah..?"

"Awful!" She complained "Ah-wait, how do you know my name? Who are you?" It felt like she had asked that question a billion times today, but she couldn't quite remember if anyone gave her a proper answer.

"It's me, Sora!" The male exclaimed. "But nevermind that, Serah we have to get out of here!" He pulled back the curtain to reveal the reason for his statement.

"Wait, you’re Sora?” Here she was thinking that he was just some imaginary person that she created in her head for comfort. “You are real right?” 

“Ouch!” He exclaimed when she pinched his cheek. “Cut it out! Yes I’m as real as you are! As I was saying, everyone has to evacuate this place quickly!”

Serah looked at the blob in the sky, and a suddenly felt a chill over her body. “Wh-what is that!?"

"Darkness, and it will soon swallow this entire place. I tired warning that bone-head blond guy but he thinks I'm making it up and so does everyone else. I mean, you see it don't you Serah!?" He pulled the curtains back again, this time so she could take a long stare at it.

She nodded. For some reason she felt like she had seen something like that before but could not remember where. "Say, Sora…" She called to him absently whilst trying to dig out of her mind exactly where in her past she had seen this. "What…what's going on? All of this, why's it happening…?"

Sora pulled out the other stool next to the girl and sat down. His eyes drifted outside the window as he tried to come up with a way to break the issue down in a way that made sense. "Well, to start it off Serah, this is not the first time this has occurred." He folded his arms across his chest and bought his eyes back towards the girl. "Something like this occurred around four years ago, with a man named Xemnas."

"Xem..nas?" Again she was absently talking.

He nodded then went on with his story. "Xemnas was the head leader of a group of nobodies that went by the name of Organization XIII. Their objective was to steal as many hearts possible to power a source known as Kingdom Hearts so they could become whole again. Xemnas on the other hand had other plans for Kingdom Hearts. He didn't wish to become whole or regain his heart, but to become one with Kingdom hearts so he could use the power of it to reconstruct the world in his own image. He almost succeeded but in the end, he was destroyed." Sora stood from the stool and stalked back towards the window. "That raises another…question." He said slowly, as though he was trying to make sense of something. "Xemnas and all the members of the organization are gone. Then I wonder who that man was. What's he want with you? His goal can't be the same as Xemnas. At least I don't think so.."

"Well perhaps, this won't be the last time we see him. I mean, if he's after me, then I'm sure we'll cross paths with him again sometime down the line. He may even lead us to Light."

Sora nodded. "Definitely, but first we have to focus on getting everyone out of here and quick!"

Snow barged through the doors mumbling something that went along the lines of stupid kid and went straight towards the refrigerator without even acknowledging Serah or Sora's presence at the time.

"If anyone is stupid here it's you!" Sora retorted, turning to face the male with a look of disgust. "How can you sit here and tell me you and the others don't see that blob in the sky! If you stay here you're gonna be swallowed alive and turned into heartless!"

"Heh, heartless..you hear this guy, Serah?" Snow grabbed the latter's arm and pulled her towards the door, like her body wasn't aching enough his strength made it even worse. "Snow you're hurting me.."

He ignored her complaint and pointed to the sky. "Tell him there is nothing there, only the crystal pillar!"

She had to disagree with Snow. The dark blob was bigger than the crystal pillar it practically blacked it out like it wasn't there. The orange pulsing core at the center made her tear her eyes away from it. For some unexplainable reason, that blob struck fear into her. "I-I uhm..Snow it's there.."

"What!?" He unintentionally pushed the girl to the side to get the brown haired male. He grabbed Sora up by the collar and started shaking him back and forth. "Now you got her believing your nonsense too!?"

"It's not nonsense you idiot!" Sora argued. " It's there! You're just too blind to see it!" A hard punch was delivered to the right side of Sora’s face that sent him flying back outside the house and on to the sandy surface.

"Snow!" Serah scolded then ran to the hurt male's aid. It took a minute or two for him to regain stability after that unexpected hit. Sora held his cheek and rubbed it. A bit of blood spilled from his lip that he wiped away with his finger. "You want to fade away, fine by me. But I'm not leaving without Serah! I promised someone I'd look after her and that promise will not be broken."

"You have a lot of guts. First you parade around here with your nonsense and now you're trying to take Ser-"

The sound of screaming people filled all of their ears. Sora and Serah both rushed over to the window and peeked outside to see the sky had turned a purple-ish grey color and little black creatures were roaming about wreaking havoc among the town's people. The heartless even made their way into the house! Snow may not have seen it earlier but he was able to see it now. "What the hell are these things!?" He picked up a nearby bat and bashed a few of the creatures away.

"Oh now you see them! It's a bit late for that don't you think!" Sora tore through the heartless with a simple swing from his blade. The creatures dissolved into dust and left behind a heart that vanished into the air. "Just go round up as many people as you can find! Get to somewhere safe. Serah and I will handle things here. Now go!" He gestured by pointing his keyblade towards the door and Snow ran without another word. "Alright Serah," He held his weapon tight at the hilt as more of the dark creatures began to raid the small home. "We'll have to fight our way through to get out, so you take one side and I'll-" A shaky gasp pulled his attention to the girl pressed against the wall. Serah was frozen in terror by the ten yellow eyed creatures that were closing in on her.

"Serah!" He cut through a few more of the shadows to get to the girl when a loud crash was heard from above and the ceiling caved in, bringing down more of the creatures. With all the debris now blockading his path to Serah, he had no other choice but to try and find another way to get to her. More and more of the shadow like creatures rounded up near the girl. To Serah, it seemed like it was nothing but a wall of black with thousands of glowing eyes just staring at her.

Sora's eyes searched around until they landed on the blue-eyed heartless that appeared to be trying to fight off the dark creatures as well. It was kind of odd watching a heartless fight against another heartless.

"Hmm, I wonder if…" Remembering something from earlier, Sora cut through the shadows to clear a path and dashed over to the creature. If he was correct then Serah would be able to protect herself. "Alright little guy, you're about to take a short trip into the air. Serah, catch!"

The girl looked to see the heartless flying over the wall of debris. She reached out to catch the heartless but her arms were immediately weighed down. "Wh-what!?" She looked down; in her hands was that weapon again.

"Figured…" Sora mumbled to himself. The heartless was her keyblade. He shouted to the girl to use the weapon to take out the heartless on that side and he'll take out the rest. After hearing those words all she could hear was the sound of Sora's weapon slashing away at the enemies while hearts rose and vanished into the air. She could barely lift the weapon off the ground, but Sora swung the thing around like it was a playtoy. It'll probably take some time to get us to but until then, she'd use it to the best of her ability.

She grabbed the hilt with both hands then did a swift spin while bringing the sword over her shoulder. The blade hit around seven of the heartless and they vanished. "Alright!" She celebrated, but that was only the start. It was going to take more than one swing to get rid of the rest of them, if that were even possible.

Another loud crash broke through the other side of the roof only this time it was a large dark hand. The hand managed to clear away enough of the debris for her to spot the brown haired male. Serah dashed towards Sora to join him at his side to fight off the rest of the heartless but, another hand came crashing in, this time hitting them both. Their forms bounced a few feet in the air and landed outside the now destroyed house.

Serah's body twitched slightly as she regained the ability to move. She slowly sat up and shook her head before opening her eyes. Everything was twisted with a slight blur but she was still able to make out her surroundings and she didn't like it one bit. The girl slowly stood to her feet, a distraught expression on her face as she took a thorough look around. 

Everything was destroyed and over run by those creatures. She couldn't even begin to imagine what could have happened to all the people as well as her friends. She only hoped that they made it to safety, wherever that was. It also seemed like they were drawing nearer to the dark blob.

"Serah watch out!" Too caught up in the destruction of her home, she failed to notice the hand that was about to attack her. The male threw himself toward the girl, just as a giant hand was coming to swipe at her. Lucky it missed them both by just a few inches. "You okay?" He asked then helped her up from the ground.

She nodded, though she really wasn't. "Y-yeah, sorry about that…"

The two looked up to witness a giant black creature with a heart shaped hole that stretched down the center of its body. The creature swung at the two again but this time Sora grabbed on to its hand and climbed up its arm. "Serah, when I tell you, I want you to attack its legs alright!"

The giant raised its arms up over its head as if he were summoning something. A sphere of black was created and the giant slammed its hand down to the ground. The dark sphere burst into tiny dark droplets that rained down from the sky and turned into those small heartless again.

Serah took them out with ease but every time she destroyed them more popped up. "Sora…" She called while still swing the blade at the heartless. She was finding it more and easier to handle the more she used it. "Whatever you're doing, can you please hurry…"

A loud piercing cry from the giant rang in Serah's ears. She glanced up to see Sora hanging on to the hilt of his weapon while the giant heartless flailed its arms about and swung its head from side to side because of Sora's blade being impaled between its eyes. "Woooah-ah! Serah now!" He yelled, trying his best to keep his grip as the beast moved about.

It was hard for her to do at first because of all the stumbling around the heartless was doing but she did it. She struck the creature's feet and it fell back with a loud boom. Sora pulled his blade from its place between the monster's eyes and prepared to deliver the final blow but a very strong gust of wind blew over them both and swept them across the air. He quickly grabbed Serah's hand then managed to stop himself by grabbing onto a piece of metal wedged in the ground. The giant heartless he had planned to kill off was carried off into the air and dissipated into that giant ball of darkness in the sky. Apparently, that's where everything was going, and so would they if he lost his grip.

The gusts of wind were growing stronger by every passing second and the piece of metal Sora was hanging onto was yanked from the ground. "Serah don't let go of my hand!" The gust swept the two up and carried them towards the blob of darkness. Serah did her best to keep her grip on Sora's hand, there was no way she was about to be separated from him. Where ever she would end up next, she'd rather be there with someone instead of being alone.

A strong gust swept over both of them and loosened their grip. Sora could feel his fingers slipping from the sweat forming at his palms. He began to panic so he reached out with his other hand and grabbed hold of her arm. The two held on until it was just their fingertips that were keeping them together. It was a great struggle and they tried, they really tried not to be separated from each other, but another big gust hit them and their fingers slipped away from each other's.

"Gah! Serah no!" He reached her arm out to grab her but it was too late. They were yanked off in different directions.

She tried to swim against the gusty winds to get back to him but it was useless the wind continued to push her back. "SORRAAAAAAA!"

Both were sucked up into the dark blob unaware of where they would end up next.


	4. Chapter 4

"Gawrsh, do you think she's alright Donald?"

"I don't know, but who is she?”

"Huh…" Serah opened her eyes to a bright blue cloudless sky. She sat up and shook her head a few times before looking around. There was greenery everywhere bushes cut into shapes of different characters and inanimate objects such as lawn mowers and watering cans at work without anyone around to put them in motion. "What the…where, where am I?"

She stood up and was about to start walking around the garden until her shoulder was grabbed. "Who are you!?" A weird voice asked.

Serah turned around to see a duck and a dog standing before her with their weapons drawn like they were ready to attack her. "Identify yourself or you'll be thrown in the dungeon for trespassing!" The duck said pointing his staff out at her.

_A talking duck..?_

Serah raised her arms up over her head. "I mean no harm….duck and dog, I-I don't even know how I got here.

"That's Donald and Goofy to you, and we are King Mickey's loyal subjects!" He stated.

"King who…loyal subjects of what..?" She blinked. "Yea that's a nice little joke but I'm kind of looking for someone so-"

Before she had the chance to finish her sentence, black portals appeared and many heartless began pouring out of them and started wreaking havoc around the garden. Serah's keyblade appeared within her hand, catching the attention of the two characters.

"Ah! That keyblade! Goofy she's the enemy!" Donald shouted.

"What no I'm not. How'd you come to that ridiculous conclusion!?" Serah retorted. The heartless surrounded the three of them.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted. A single bolt ripped down from the sky and struck a few of the heartless, causing them to disperse into dust. Another portal opened up, spilling out another batch of the dark creatures.

"This is bad.." Donald said, stating the obvious.

"You think?" Serah responded. "Look we have to get rid of these heartless. Duck you take that side, dog you take that end over there, and I'll attack the center!"

"Who are you to come shooting orders at us, you organization affiliate! We only take orders from our king!" Donald shouted in a rather angry tone at the girl.

"I'm not with the organization. If I was I would be banding with these creatures to destroy you. Am I not correct!?" She said stepping out and sweeping her weapon at the three heartless that so bravely jumped out at her.

Donald grumbled. She was right. Now wasn't the time to be discriminating. That could wait until later. Right now they had to get rid of these heartless. "Alright, let's do this."

Goofy ran to the right while Donald ran to the left. Serah stayed at the center and handled the heartless there. The three fought together until the garden was cleared of all heartless. They doubled checked around to make sure that none were hiding out anywhere. "All clear Goofy shouted."

"Good. Guards!" Donald shouted. A group of seven suits of armor circled around Serah pointing their swords up at her neck.

"H-hey! What is this all of a sudden!? I just helped you guys out!" Serah said, glaring down at the stubborn duck.

"You're under arrest." Donald started.

"I’m being arrested, for what!?" 

"Until we can clear that you're not with the organization, we can’t allow you to leave. Take her to the king!" Donald said gesturing the guard into the castle.

“But I'm not! How many times do I have to stress it!?" She kicked and pulled but the enchanted armor had a very tight grip on her arms. Donald and Goofy walked ahead of the armor as they lead them into the castle. Goofy gave Donald a doubtful stare then turned his eyes to Serah who was now quiet and just blankly staring down at her feet.

"I don't know Donald," Goofy said, with much doubt in his voice. "I believe she is telling us the truth. She did have a point. If she was with the organization why would she help us destroy the heartless?"

"We can't take chances Goofy! She could be tricking us! She also wields the forbidden keyblade.”

_‘Forbidden Keyblade! What!?’_ She thought. She knew nothing about that.

The doors to the castle opened and they all walked inside. Serah looked around, observing all of her very odd surrounding. Again inanimate objects were at work on their own. Funny looking characters passed by, staring and whispering as they watched Serah being escorted in. The castle itself was of very odd in shape and not to mention, unnecessarily huge. She felt like an ant walking through here. This place reminded her of a funhouse at a fair.

"Wait here." Donald said as they approached a tall white door. The duck pushed open a small door and he and Goofy walked inside, allowing the door to shut behind them.

Serah slightly inched towards the door and placed her ear against it. She was able to hear a little bit of what was being said but not enough. So she puhed the small door open slightly, drawing the attention of the armor who pointed their weapons at her. "Alright! alright!" She stepped back from the door but made sure she kept it cracked to hear what was going on inside.

"Your Majesty!" She heard Donald call out.

"We found a girl in the garden, and have reason to believe she is affiliated with The Organization. She wields the forbidden keyblade!" Donald said.

"I can’t believe this..." If it was so forbidden what was it doing with her? More importantly why would Light give her something that would get her into trouble?

"Bring her to me right away." This had to be bad. What if she gets executed or something!? She had to find a way to get out of here.

"Bring her in." Donald said as he pulled open the door. The armor shoved her into the hall making sure to stay close behind her. Serah felt her heart leap into her throat and beads of sweat start pouring off her forehead. 

She had to get out of here. "Time to go!" She wasn't trying to stick around here any longer. She dashed to the right, then leaped back, and made a run for the door.

"Armor!" The mouse said calmly, and those enchanted suits of metal were after her again. She was right there, just a few more steps, and she could have been out of there, but several suits of the armor slid out in front of her while another set lined up in the back of her.

"Great.." she mumbled in defeat.

The armor grabbed her arms and began escorting her back towards the king. "Ahhh! Let me go let me go! I didn't do anything!"

The armor shoved her towards the mouse and she fell to the floor in front of him. The armor lined up behind her to make sure she wouldn't make another escape attempt.

Serah looked up from the floor at the mouse who was still staring at her strangely. It wasn't a stare like he was angry at her or anything. But it was an unusual one that made the girl feel quite uncomfortable. "I-I'm sorry Mr. Mouse I-I didn't mean to-Ouch!" She rubbed the top of her head after that stubborn duck bashed her with his staff.

"You don't speak until you are told to." He scolded. "And it's King Mickey to you!"

_'King Mickey..?'_

She thought to herself. This little mouse was a king? "King Mickey I'm sorry I didn't do this intentionally, but I mean no harm I promise! I don't even know how I got here. I-I'm just looking for my friend Sora he-"

"Sora!?" He cut in, stopping the girl's rambling. Mickey, Donald and Goofy all looked at one another in surprise while Serah just looked around confused.

"You know Sora!?" Mickey asked.

"Uhm, Yes. Why do you all sound so surprised?" She asked.

Mickey hopped down from his chair and walked off to the left side of his throne. Serah's eyes followed. Mickey's face now showed that of a worried expression. "Sora had disappeared a few years ago. I was about to send him on an errand when he suddenly vanished. We asked around but no one seemed to know who he was or what he looked like. Only Donald, Goofy, myself and a few of his other friends were able to remember him."

Her mouth fell open. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who had someone disappear. Maybe all these disappearances were connected. They had to be. They know Sora and Sora know's Light. "The exact same thing has happened to me as well. My sister vanished three years ago and I have not seen her since. No one remembers her but me.."

"Hmmm, as I expected. You're Light's sister. No?" Mickey asked.

Serah nodded. "Ah, how do you know my sister!?" There was a connection after all, which meant she was on the right path.

"Hm. Last time I seen her was about a decade and a half ago. She was my apprentice for the Mark of Mastery Exam, an exam to become a keyblade master. At the time she was too young. She even asked my master but he turned her down. She then came to me. I almost turned her away as well but when she explained to me her reason I couldn't refuse her. She said something dangerous was coming, and wanted to stop it." Mickey explained.

"That," He pointed to the keyblade in her hand. "What you're holding was the imminent danger and still is. That keyblade was forged. A real one is made from both darkness and light but that one is composed of nothing more than darkness. It's known as the Sealed Will keyblade." He said.

"Ever since that weapon was crafted it's caused a number of disturbances, the dark forces are much stronger, and they want that keyblade.”

"Well they can have this thing!" She tossed the keyblade down in front of the mouse's feet. "Because I don't want it. It has caused me a great deal of trouble." The weapon vanished from the floor and appeared back in her hand much to her dismay.

"The dark forces not only want the keyblade but the chosen wielder as well. Sealed Will may be a dangerous weapon but it is also a very unique and special one. When Light bought the weapon to me I locked its power away and told her to make sure it only falls into the hands of the right person."

"Why did it choose me!?" She slammed down the weapon again and it slid across the floor." I don't want it. I just want to go home and go back to my normal life.." She already knew the weapon would appear within her hands again, in a few seconds but she felt that maybe if she tried over and over again the weapon would get the picture and stop returning to her. But it didn’t.”

"Things happen Serah," Mickey explained. "And sometimes it may not be the things that you want but in the end, it could lead to something good. I can't tell you why the keyblade chose you but I know someone who could." He stepped down two stairs and walked in the direction of his loyal subjects.

"Donald, Goofy,"

"Yes your majesty!" The two stood at attention.

"Take Serah over to Master Yen Sid, I'll inform him of your arrival."

"Yes your Majesty!" They said together.

"No worries Serah," Mickey said reassuringly. He remembered when Sora was the exact same way when he first started out with the keyblade. "Things will get better in due time."

"Yeah right, for me things seem to be getting worse." She said morosely.

"Well things are always going to get worse-"

"Before they get better, right?" She shook her head in disagreement. First her sister vanishes, then her home town was swallowed up by darkness. Now she's running around in foreign lands trying to find answers, only to receive more questions. "I've been through a hell of a lot already, and nothing seems to be getting better."

"It seems to me it has." He pointed over to Donald and Goofy. "You've come across new friends to help you along the way, and believe me, they are very trustworthy."

"Yeah." Goofy added. Donald and I are sorry for attacking ya back there. We were just a little shocked is all. Right Donald?"

"Yeah yeah." The duck said rolling his eyes.

Serah smiled slightly. She felt better. A little."I guess your right King Mickey."

"Here." Mickey reached down into his pocket and placed something in the palm of the girl's hand. It was an odd star shaped trinket.

"What's this?" Serah asked, still observing the object.

"It's a Star Shard. Use it to teleport yourself to a different location when needed. But be sure the area you wish to travel to is clear in your mind."

"Hmm…" Serah nodded and placed the shard in her pocket. "Thank you King Mickey."

:::

“Wow it actually worked!” She was amazed, by how fast the shard worked, more so that it worked at all.

“With no held from you!” Donald said and shoved the star shard into her hands.

She grabbed the small trinket and slipped it into her pocket. Since Donald or Goofy was unable to use the shard, and Serah had never used it before, Mickey teleported them using his shard.

“Rub it in my face why don’t you..ah!?” Serah stopped her fussing with Donald, and started looking around. “Hn..?”

_This..this place.._

Somewhere in the deepest parts of her memory, this place, Twilight town was there...but why?

“Hey!” Donald shouted, startling the girl. “No time for sight seeing we have somewhere to be!”

“Oh..right..” She looked around again, and as she did bits and pieces were coming back to her. “Why did I forget this place..more importantly, why am I remembering it now?”

“Keep daydreaming and we’re going to leave you!” Donald shouted from the top of the hill. He and goofy were already walking into the station.

“H-hey wait!” She ran to catch up to the two as they made their way inside. Nothing of relevance came back to her in that memory, but there was something about this place that gave her a bad vibe. 

“Say Serah,” Goofy called out to the girl.

“H-huh!?” She probably shouldn’t wonder on it too much right now. Could just be paranoia. “What is it Goofy?”

“Where are you from?”

“Where am I..from?” She hesitated with her answer. Thinking about home was a little depressing for her. It never really felt like home with the absence of her sister. “I..well...New Bodum. It’s a small beach town on Gran Pulse.” She explained. “It’s also where I met Sora, before we were split up. I hope he’s alright wherever he ended up.”

“I’m sure Sora’s fine.” Donald said waving his hand back at the two. They’d come to the doors of the train station and walked inside. “He probably just ended up in one of the other worlds. We’ll find him.”

“Other..worlds?” She’d heard Sora and Mickey both use that word, but didn’t quite understand what they meant by it. “Uh, what do you mean other worlds?”

Donald sighed and shook his head. “You really don’t know anything do you?”

She shrugged. “Cut me some slack. All of this is new to me.”

“It’s not the easiest to explain so I’ll just show you.”

She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Yeah, how?”

“Just be patient and wait!” The duck grumbled.

So this is what she’d be dealing with until they found Sora. She didn’t know if she’d last. “Okay. so which one of these trains are we boarding?” She asked as they stepped up onto the platform. 

"Neither, it’s not here yet." Donald said and sat down on the ground.

Serah turned around and looked at the many trains being boarded by passenger, then back at the duck. “Uhm, you sure? It seems like those are the only trains there are to board. Also, I feel like we’re on the wrong side. If there is another train that we’re waiting on, wouldn’t it come from that direction? There aren't even any tracks on this side, and look,”

She pointed to the space where the wall stood, showing him it was impossible for a train to come through. "There is a wall there. Last I checked trains don't travel through walls. They'll do something that sounds like CRASH!”

“Also,” She turned back towards the entrance where the ticketing counter was. “I don’t remember us purchasing any-"

"Quiet!" Donald quacked, becoming annoyed by the girl's rambling.

"Geez, Okay okay." She walked and stood next to Goofy since he seemed to be the positive one out of him and Donald. "Am I losing my mind her or something!?"

Goofy giggled. "It's a magical train Serah, created by the great Sorcerer, Master Yen Sid. You'll see."

A few seconds later a train did exactly what she predicted it wouldn't do and passed through the wall. She was more than surprised. "Woah.."

"Told you." Donald growled.

The train to the doors opened, and the three of them boarded quickly, but Serah stopped, well everything stopped. “What the!?” 

A black portal appeared and one of those cloaked individuals stepped out.

Serah felt a sense of fear come over her. She stumbled back and fell to the floor.

“This path you’re choosing,” The individual started. It was the voice of a woman this time. Though it wasn’t menacing like the other she encountered, there was still that edginess in the tone. “It’s not a wise choice. It’ll only lead to sorrow and despair.” They reached a hand out to the girl for her to grab. “You still have time to back out, but it has to be right now. I’ll lead you down the correct path, the one that ends in you reuniting with your sister.”

She knew better. This wasn’t the first time these guys offered her the chance to see Light again, but she wasn’t falling for it. She reached for the other’s hand but slapped it away. “I don’t think so.” She said and stood to her feet. “If its sorrow and despair that I’ll have to endure so be it. At least I’ll know it was my choice and it wasn’t manipulated by any of you. Now get lost!” She was playing brave right now, her whole body was shaking, and she was sweating bullets.

“Tck! Foolish girl!” The organization member backed off and opened a portal. “You’ll see, you’re going to regret your decision!”

Time returned to its normal pace, and the organization member had vanished. Serah sat down and dropped her face into her hands. They were still shaking. Her whole body was still shaking. _Get it together.._

She could go up against heartless with no problem, but the moment those organization members show up, she’s shaking like a leaf. “What the hell is the matter with me?”

“Hey, you alright Serah? You look like you seen a ghost.”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine Goofy..just a little out of it.” She laid down across the seats and closed her eyes.

_”You’re going to regret your decision!_

“Dammit..no.” That’s not true. She made the right choice.

Did she? What if they weren’t toying with her? 

She shook her head. There was no reason to think like that. Mickey wouldn’t lead her astray..she hoped.

“Okay! I’m going to sleep now!” She said aloud, earning odd stares from her comrades. She made her choice already and there was no turning back. She’d just have to see what this path would lead to. “Wake me when we arrive.”


End file.
